Images(4)

Wine Bottle

Dateca. 1825

OriginEngland, Bristol

MediumGlass

DimensionsOH: 10 1/8"; OW: 3 1/2".

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2023-305

DescriptionBottle of olive-green glass: mold blown cylindrical shape with slight kick rises to rounded shoulder and tall neck with collared rim; the seal molded with, “I. L. M. SMITH / WINE MERCHT. / BALTIMORE.” and an applied paper label above the seal reads, “Madeira / March & Co. / Impt. 1828 / Btld 1829”.
Label TextMade in Bristol, England, the bottle bears the seal for a Baltimore wine merchant John M.L.Smith who was in business in Baltimore from 1818 until 1841 when he liquidated. While intact wine bottles with bearing the seals of early Americans are rare, bottles--like this example--bearing seals of American wine merchants are even more scarce.
Inscribedseal molded with, “I. L. M. SMITH / WINE MERCHT. / BALTIMORE.”

An applied paper label above the seal reads, “Madeira / March & Co. / Impt. 1828 / Btld 1829”.
ProvenanceA.C. Hubbard, Jr. (Baltimore, MD); [Bonhams Skinner, Marlborough, MA, Lot 4, European Decor and Design, Part 1, October 8, 2023]; 2023-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)